I just bought a used Avalon. 2007, in pristine condition with 124k miles.
I’m friends with the woman who’s new boyfriend sold me the car. It’s so clean that I won’t go to their house if I haven’t washed the car in week. Here’s my issue, The first time I went over, as the guy was unloading a truck, moving into her house, he says he has something for me for the car. He comes out with a big box, which happens to be a brand new rear strut, and then he brings another.
I asked if there was a problem with the struts. He says no. I then asked if there’s a history of Avalons having strut issues, and he says no again. He just bought them because he said they were a good deal online.
I have to ask, is this guy nuts, and where can I sell them?
I AM NOT going to replace the existing struts because I don’t see any problems and I want these things out of my garage that I’m trying to clean out.
I’d appreciate any suggestions.
I’m thinking of offering them to my mechanic, who does my oil changes in exchange for several free oil changes. Anyone think this is a good solution?
Look up the price online and put them on Craigslist for 50 to 60 percent of the price .
You don’t have room to keep them? If I had a car with 124k miles I’d be expecting to replace shocks/struts in the next few years. They typically don’t fail so much as slowly wear out, it can be hard to know that they’re worn.
Of course, unless OP can replace them themselves, they might have trouble finding a mechanic willing to use customer-sourced parts.
That said, if OP can do the work or has friends who can, it could save them a lot of money to hold on to them.
As long as OP is willing to put up with the extreme annoyances that come with selling stuff on Craigslist. Scams, flakes, agreeing on prices only to have them show up and say “oh, uh, I didn’t bring all the cash, can I have it for less?” etc.
At 124,000 miles the struts are nowhere near good as new. You already have the struts for free (assuming they are a quality brand) so have your mechanic install them next time you are in for service.
You may even notice enough of an improvement in ride that you will want to replace the front struts too.
At 14 years of age and 124k miles I bet those rear struts are worn a bit more than you think. Besides, it only takes one ride up in the air on a lift to cause the suspension to drop. Once lowered back to the ground an iffy strut may have gone completely bad due to that unloading of the suspension. You are then left with a car with a ride similar to a ping-pong ball.
Better hang on to them. Surely they can’t take up that much room.
I’m not going to say what I was planning to say, because then my post would be flagged and censored. So instead, I will say this: Bwahahahahah ahahahahah hahahahah hahahaha hahahah haha ha. You’re joking, right?
Sounds like the previous owner really loves this car.
Unfortunately, they can’t love you back.
Buying/selling a car to someone you have ongoing contact with is a risky move.
It’s like dating a co-worker.
That co-worker I dated has been my wife for almost 40 years.
+1
Even if they aren’t actually worn-out at this point, it won’t be very long before the OP will need to replace them. Aside from the reality that people tend to become used to the deteriorating ride and handling qualities, when someone is driving an old car for the first time, he really has no idea about how badly-deteriorated the struts really are.
As someone already suggested, I think that the OP should have the new struts installed when he next takes the car in for servicing.
I actually understand the Seller because I’m a little nuts too and a bit of a cheapskate.
Knowing that over 100K struts tend to wear out and seeing a great deal on a quality part I’d probably jump on it, knowing that I’ll soon need it anyway.
Sounds like you bought a well maintained used car so as the other posters said, keep them or install them now because either way you’ll probably need them soon.